1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to color measuring devices. It finds particular application in conjunction with devices for measuring colors produced by a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) monitor and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention is also amenable to other like applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of color rendering systems, it is commonly necessary to calibrate color rendering devices such as printers to make print colors output by the color rendering devices conform to standards and to compensate for drift and other changes. Thus, calibration is required to fine tune the color response of the color rendering device.
Colorimeters are known for measuring colors of a sample. One type of conventional colorimeter has been developed for measuring colors produced by a monitor (display). Two (2) common types of displays include, for example, cathode ray tube (“CRT”) monitors and liquid crystal display (“LCD”) monitors. Reasons for measuring colors displayed on a monitor include identifying actual colors being displayed and, optionally, comparing the actual displayed colors against standard accepted colors. One reason for making such a comparison is for modifying the displayed colors to more closely match the standard accepted colors (e.g., calibrating the monitor). For various reasons, monitors must be calibrated on a regular basis.
Until now, colorimeters have been designed to be used with CRT monitors. Because LCD monitors have several distinct characteristics compared to CRT monitors, colorimeters designed for use with CRT monitors do not always work well with LCD monitors. For example, LCD monitors noticeably change color with viewing angle. Furthermore, because LCD monitors include a soft viewing screen, colors displayed on the screen may change as a function of pressure applied to the screen. In fact, colors are often completely destroyed if too much pressure is applied to a soft viewing screen. It is to be understood that additional differences, which are not mentioned, exist between CRT and LCD monitors.
For the reasons discussed above, calorimeters designed for CRT monitors do not always work well for measuring colors produced by LCD monitors. Therefore, calorimeters designed for CRT monitors are not practical for calibrating LCD monitors.
The present invention provides a new and improved apparatus and method which addresses the above-referenced problems.